NAZARETH, (PIC)– The Israeli Knesset approved on first reading the Prawer-Begin plan to displace the Palestinian Bedouins from their homes and destroy their villages in the Negev region.

43 Knesset members on Monday voted in favor of the plan, while 40 others including 11 Arab members opposed the verdict.

Consequently, the session saw heated arguments between the Arab and Jewish members of the Knesset.

Speaker Yuli-Yoel Edelstein also engaged himself in the wrangling and expelled the Arab members after they tore the Prawer-Begin proposal paper.

The bill has been referred to the Knesset interior affairs and environment committee to be prepared for the second and third readings, which could take place as early as next month.

The Prawer-Begin plan would lead to the destruction of dozens of unrecognized Palestinian villages in the Negev area, south of the 1948 occupied lands, and the displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinian Bedouins from their homes.

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Father Hanna slams Israeli attempts to recruit Palestinian Christians

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– Father Atallah Hanna, the archbishop of the orthodox church of Jerusalem, reiterated his rejection of Israeli attempts to recruit Palestinian Christian youths to work for its military, civil and security institutions.

“We reject such calls to recruit our sons as it goes against our principles, both spiritual and national,” Hanna stated on Monday.

Hanna stressed the need for not only condemning such Israeli calls, but also for raising the national and religious awareness of the Christian young men, especially their sense of belonging.

“The Christians in this land have no identity crisis as some may think. They are Palestinian Arabs of authentic eastern descent and in need for proper awareness and guidance in order to safeguard their identity and their true national affiliation,” Hanna underscored.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– The Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage said that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) in cooperation with Jewish societies and companies started their excavations and construction projects concurrently in three areas around the Aqsa Mosque.

In a report released on Monday, the Aqsa foundation stated that the first construction site is on the southern side of Al-Maghariba Gate ramp, the second site is on the eastern side of the Umayyad Palaces to the south of the Aqsa Mosque and the third site is on the southern side of the entrance to Wadi Hilwa neighborhood.

The foundation underlined that these projects are part of an ongoing Judaization plan to change the Islamic identity and landscape of the whole area around the Aqsa Mosque.

It added that the IOA and its partners aim to Judaize the vicinity of the Aqsa Mosque where there is no place for non-Jewish landmarks and to connect the tunnels and corridors beneath and around the Aqsa Mosque with each other and with other Jewish structures built by the occupation or still under construction.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– The Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage warned that the Israeli antiquities authority took over the historical public drinking fountain known as “Qattanin” in the old city of Jerusalem at the pretext of making repairs.

The Aqsa foundation expressed its fear that the Israeli antiquities authority might destroy or Judaize this ancient fountain, which dates back to the reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.

The foundation appealed to the international Islamic institutions and the governments of Turkey and Jordan to urgently intervene to stop such Israeli violations against the historical Islamic sites in Jerusalem.

It affirmed that workmen had placed scaffolding at the site and fastened a sign bearing the name of the Israeli antiquities authority, claiming that they would initiate repairs to the Qattanin fountain, which is located on Al-Wad street.

The Qattanin fountain is one of six public drinking fountains built by the Ottoman ruler Suleiman the Magnificent.

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ILA to confiscate 70 dunums of Sur Baher lands

OCCUPIED JERSALEM,(PIC)– The Israel Lands Administration (ILA) declared its intention to confiscate 70 dunums of Sur Baher lands in Duhr area in occupied Jerusalem in favor of settlement projects.

One of the land owners stated that the Israeli authorities had confiscated in 1971 nearly 2240 dunums in the mentioned area in order to build Armon Hanatziv settlement.

70 dunums have remained from the confiscated lands where construction work has been postponed on it due to the local residents’ appeals, he added.

The Israeli authorities declared its intention to construct a new settlement neighborhood on the remaining 70 dunums including the establishment of a Jewish synagogue and public facilities.

Local sources stated that the ILA has issued confiscation orders for the mentioned lands five days ago, calling on the lands’ owners to submit their appeals against the confiscation decision before July 13.

The ILA confiscation orders also called on the land owners to remove the olive trees.

The lands threatened with confiscation are owned by 20 Palestinian families, where they decided to perform the next Friday prayers on their lands.

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900 new Israeli housing units in southern al-Khalil

AL-KHALIL,(PIC)– The Israeli authorities have approved the establishment of 900 new housing units in southern al-Khalil in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian expert in settlement affairs said.

Abdul-Hadi Hantash, member of the Land Defense Committee in al-Khalil, told Quds Press that the Israeli authorities issued recently new tenders to construct 900 housing units in several settlements in West Bank, pointing out that the construction work will be focused in smaller settlements in an attempt to impart legitimacy.

325 housing units will be established between Ochklot and Sansana settlements built on Palestinian lands in al-Khalil in order to expand and link the two settlements, he added.

The Palestinian expert pointed out that the Israeli authorities used to declare the tenders after carrying out the settlement construction as part of the Israeli policy to impose a fait accompli on the region and to prevent any Palestinian appeal against the Israeli settlement projects.

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IOF soldiers beat up young Palestinian after arresting him

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)– Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested a young man in Beit Ummar village, north of Al-Khalil, at dawn Monday and beat up another one from the same village last night.

Palestinian sources said that IOF soldiers arrested Yousef Abu Hashem at the Container roadblock near Bethlehem on Sunday night.

Yousef’s father said that his son was taken to Etzion detention center where he was beaten up by the soldiers before throwing him at the entrance to Beit Ummar village. He said that his son was hospitalized with a broken nose.

Meanwhile, other IOF units detained a senior member of the students’ Islamic bloc at the Arab American University in Jenin at dawn Monday.

Local sources said that the soldiers ransacked the home of Taher Nawahda before taking him in, adding that another young man was arrested in Jenin refugee camp.